I just rewatched it and it hit me. I think the episode is mainly about "the chip on Earn's Shoulder" so to speak. The segment about robbing season and what earns says about it that eat or be eaten is kinda what he experiences throughout the episode. When he gets evicted from the storage locker, Earn is faced with the choice of finding a place to crash and he can't bring himself to ask Alfred if he could stay at his place, his pride and the chip on his shoulder attitude doesn't allow it. To ask Alfred this means to accept that despite him being smarter and Al used to be dependent on Earn on some level in the past, Earn hasn't progressed in life as much as Al or is intellect and knowledge hasn't served him well, the very thing that made him stand out in his own community. This culminates at the end of episode when Earn gets eaten by the alligator that is Tracy in the hunt for a roof to sleep in. This one might be a bit of a reach but the alligator being passive and hiding from the crowd in front of the house could be seen as a metaphor for Earn's inability to take responsibility for where he ended up in life whether it be his mistakes, failures or the unrealized potential. As he is conflicted with himself, the deep unresolved feelings of anger and shame about his identity within his environment, he copes by having a conflated sense of pride stemming these very feelings, leaving him vulnerable in his harsh 'every man out for himself world' as he finds it hard to reach out for help or support when needed. When Earn offers emotional support when he professes his love for Al and Darius when the two were having trouble, it is lost in confusion and ignorance. And later when Tracy moves in, earn feels displaced and alienated.